§ Sir John StanleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the volume of traffic on the M20 between junctions 3 and 5 one year after it was first opened; what it is now; and what it is estimated to be on such future dates for which estimates are available. [6952]
§ Mr. Watts[holding answer 29 November 1996]I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to my right hon. Friend.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Sir John Stanley, dated 2 December 1996:
476WThe Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question about the volume of traffic on the M20 between junctions 3 and 5.Traffic data is only kept readily available for a limited period. Traffic flows one year after this section of road opened (December 1971) could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) flow between junctions 3 and 4 during 1993 (the earliest year for which continuous data is available) was 66,000 vehicles per day (vpd). An equivalent figure for the section between junctions 4 and 5 is not available.The 1995 AADT traffic flows between junctions 3–5 and 4–5 were 83,100 and 91,500 vpd respectively. Figures for 1996 will not be available until early in the new year.as "accepted expenditure", and the actual spend in the first three years, are in the table. It also includes details of the block allocations made to Somerset for minor road schemes in the same period.
Evidence presented at the public inquiry into the now withdrawn scheme to widen this section of motorway suggested that, without the improvement, traffic flows during the design year (2012) were forecast to be:-
AADT Junction 3–4 Low growth 110,000 High growth 131,000 Junctions 4–5 Low growth 127,000 High growth 153,000